The updated IPCC report released in 2021 synthesizes over 14,000 peer-reviewed studies on the science of our climate, and its findings are stark: “unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5°C or even 2°C will be beyond reach.” Achieving these reductions will require “a massive reallocation of capital.”

To address these concerns, 350 Colorado is running campaigns focused on defunding climate disaster, including working to advance state-wide public banking as a more sustainable alternative banking model, calling on JPMorgan Chase to stop funding extreme fossil fuel projects to the tune of $317 Billion since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, urging cities throughout Colorado to stop banking with wall street banks that are funding the climate crisis, calling on Colorado’s pension fund, PERA, to divest from fossil fuels, and working in coalition with groups nationally and internationally to call out the top financiers of the climate crisis.

Learn More: Divestment 101

How Can You Take Action?

Want to get more involved? Join the Defund Climate Disaster/Divest-Invest Committee to receive ongoing action alerts and stay up to date with campaign planning.

  • Break ties with and boycott banks financing harmful projects. Select a financial institution that is not financing fossil fuel projects and infrastructure, such as tar sands oil, fracking, coal mining, and oil or natural gas pipelines. Credit Unions are a great place to start. 
  • Support Public Banking! 350 Colorado, as part of the Colorado Public Banking Coalition, is continuing to call on Colorado Legislators to support legislation to establish a Colorado public bank and allow municipal governments to establish public banks. Sign on to our support letter here!
  • Cut ties with insurers that insure or invest in fossil fuels. Call on your city or county to do so as well. Check out this Toolkit and learn more here. 

TAKE ACTION: CALL ON COLORADO’S STATE PENSION FUND (PERA) TO GO FOSSIL FREE

Are you a Colorado PERA member? Sign the Fossil Free PERA Petition and join our Fossil Free PERA Campaign. PERA has upwards of $1 Billion invested in hundreds of oil, gas and coal companies. Recently, PERA increased its holdings in Extraction LLC, an oil and gas company that lost $500M in 2016 and is proposing some of the most controversial projects in Colorado, such as fracking in close proximity to the Bella Romero 4th-8th grade school in Greeley and on Boulder County Open Space lands.

We don’t believe Colorado public money should be funding the climate crisis and endangering public health and safety. We also believe that PERA should be addressing the investment risks around the carbon bubble and stranded assets, fossil fuel reserves that will become unburnable in the wake of global commitments to curb climate change and the shift to cleaner, renewable energy. We are encouraging PERA to call into question the ethical, financial and fiduciary concerns of fossil fuel investments and are calling on PERA to divest from fossil fuels, which will protect pensions and show bold leadership in investing in the future.

YOU CAN JOIN THE FOSSIL FREE PERA COALITION AND LEARN MORE AT www.FossilFreeCOPERA.org.


TAKE ACTION: SIGN THE GO FOSSIL FREE: DIVEST-INVEST PLEDGE

Over 740 individuals, organizations and financial advisers in Colorado have signed the pledge to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in a cleaner, renewable energy future. Join us in taking action by pledging to personally divest-invest.

The Pledge:

Where I have direct control over the individual companies I invest in, I will:

  1. Make no new investments in oil, gas, and coal companies, especially the top 200 reserve owners.
  2. Sell investments in oil, gas, and coal companies, especially the top 200 reserve owners, within 3-5 years.
  3. Invest in a sustainable and equitable new renewable energy economy.
  4. In addition, I will bank with a financial institution that does not invest in fossil fuel companies or infrastructure and will strive to make personal choices in everyday life that reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Where I do not have direct control over the individual companies in my investments–such as in an employer 401K, mutual fund, or ETF–I pledge to invest in fossil free alternatives as soon as suitable options become available. I will call on my employer or fund manager and encourage them to provide such options. If I intend to engage in shareholder advocacy, I may retain a small share for that purpose.

YOU CAN SIGN THE PLEDGE HERE.


Want to learn more about fossil fuel divestment? Visit our Divest Invest Resource Hub

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Want to learn more about the role banks play in climate change? Check out this webinar. 

 

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